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Manila Bulletin devider devider Villar backs pay hike for nurses in gov't hospitals

Villar backs pay hike for nurses in gov't hospitals

Published Oct 13, 2019 02:06 pm
By Hannah Torregoza Senator Cynthia Villar on Sunday threw her support behind calls to increase the pay of nurses working in government health institutions, noting that there is currently a shortage of nurses in public hospitals. Sen. Cynthia Villar (Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN) Sen. Cynthia Villar (Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN) “Ako po ay in favor na taasan ang sweldo ng nurses kasi parang may shortage na tayo ng mga nurses ngayon (I am in favor of increasing the salaries of nurses because it seems we are now having a shortage of nurses),” Villar said in an interview over DZBB. “So we must encourage young people to take up nursing at mae-encourage natin sila kung well-compensated sila sa trabaho. Kaya tingin ko it’s time na we look at the salaries of our health workers,” the senator stressed. The Supreme Court had recently upheld the validity of a legal provision that sets the basic pay of public nurses to Salary Grade 15 or about P30,000 a month. READ MORE: SC upholds P29,010 minimum monthly base pay for gov’t nurses According to the lawmaker, she also supports increasing the salary of nurses because they are considered the frontliners in health services and at the same time, they too are exposed to health risks. The lawmaker said the salary augmentation for nurses can be sourced from unprogrammed funds in the Department of Health (DOH). “You have to limit yourself sa allocated sa (Department of) Health. Pero malaki ang allocated sa Health. Sometimes, kumukuha sila sa unprogrammed accounts. Doon siguro ang pagkukunan nito,” she said. Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon, earlier vowed to look for available funds in the proposed P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020 to fund the necessary increase in the salaries of state nurses. READ MORE: Drilon to find funds for gov’t nurses’ pay increase Drilon said this is in accordance with Republic Act No. 9173, the Philippine Nursing Act, and pursuant to the ruling of the Supreme Court. The Senate minority chief said the three possible sources of funds would be the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF), the proposed budget for the 2020 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, and some unutilized revenues from the Sin Tax Law. “If the government is willing to buy a P2-billion jet and if it can boldly ask Congress for a record-breaking P8.2-billion intelligence and confidential fund, I do not see any reason why we cannot fund the adjustment in the salary of our nurses,” Drilon said.  
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